PM Orbán says EU will flourish if it's made up of strong individual national economies

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that the European Union will be a strong community if it is made up of strong individual national economies.

The prime minister made the statement following productive talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Budapest on Thursday.

“If we want to have a strong EU, each of us will have to do our own bit on the home front,” PM Orbán said.

During talks, PM Orbán assured Varadkar of Hungary’s support for Ireland’s special viewpoints in talks with the EU in relation to Brexit.

According to MTI, the meeting focused on the current situation of the EU, taxation, migration and agricultural policy, as well as Brexit.

PM Orbán said that with regard to migration, “Hungary is not against any other country but it insists on retaining its own identity, culture and achievements”.

He said that Schengen rules must be enforced and the bloc’s external borders kept “protected and closed” in order to keep the internal borders open.

The prime minister also said that harmonizing taxes at a European level would not be good because “taxation is an important component of competition”.

PM Orbán also praised Ireland for having resolved its financial difficulties over the past ten years. “Dublin has come a long way and Hungary takes its hat off to that achievement,” he said.

Varadkar said bilateral relations were strong and that Hungary was an important economic partner for Ireland. He noted that 12,000 Hungarians currently reside and have jobs in Ireland.

“We both agreed that the European Union would be diminished without the contribution of the British,” he said.

The Irish prime minister said it was in the interest of both countries that after Brexit happens, links as close as possible should be established between the EU and the UK. Varadkar said Ireland agreed with Hungary that the best way of ensuring stability in the Western Balkans was to take steps towards the EU integration of the former Yugoslav countries and Albania.